Freelance Writer

KRAFT DEAL COSTS STARBUCKS POTENTIAL GROCERY SALESJanuary 4, 2011Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee chain, will miss out on a surge in home-brewing unless it can break a 13-year-old deal that ties its fortunes to Kraft Foods Inc.'s slow-selling Tassimo machine.

U.S. RETAILERS HURT AS SNOWSTORM THWARTS SHOPPERSDecember 27, 2010U.S. retailers expecting to ring up sales in the days after Christmas may have to intensify discounts after a snowstorm slammed the East Coast yesterday, disrupting one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

KRAFT CHALLENGES STARBUCKS' ATTEMPT TO END AGREEMENTNovember 29, 2010Kraft Foods Inc. said it would challenge Starbucks Corp.'s attempt to end a retail grocery coffee-distribution agreement between the two companies and has initiated an arbitration proceeding.

STARBUCKS LEAVES STORES UNFIXED AS MCDONALD'S PERKS UPNovember 4, 2010The Seattle-based coffee chain is betting it can increase sales by spending the same amount of money as usual, about $250 million a year, to renovate only about half the approximately 1,900 shops due for a facelift in 2011.

BURGER KING AGREES TO $3.3 BILLION 3G CAPITAL OFFERSeptember 2, 2010Burger King Holdings Inc. agreed to be acquired by 3G Capital, a New York investment firm backed by Brazilian investors, for $3.3 billion in the biggest restaurant acquisition in at least a decade.

MCDONALD'S DRAWS ETHNIC FLAVOR INTO MENUS, ADS TO DRIVE SALESJuly 8, 2010The music industry has long sold black culture to white Americans. Now McDonald's Corp. is doing much the same. It's taking cues from blacks, Hispanics and Asians to develop menus and advertising, in an effort to encourage middle-class whites to buy smoothies and snack wraps as avidly as they consume hip-hop and rock 'n' roll.

PELTZ'S TRIAN APPROACHED ON WENDY'S/ARBY'S TAKEOVERJune 11, 2010Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management LP, the biggest shareholder in Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc., said it was approached by a third party about the possibility of participating in a takeover of the fast-food chain.